Tree-sitter &#8220;Jru&#8221; arrested on drug charges

ENCINITAS 
A man who gained notoriety for living in a tree in Orpheus Park for several days in late January and early February to protest its planned removal was arrested last week on drug charges.

Andrew Watkins, 27, who also goes by the name “Jru,” was taken into custody on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance, sheriff's Lt. William Donahue said.

He and three others were at Moonlight Beach on April 13 around 11 p.m. when a deputy on patrol saw the group and shined a light on them, Donahue said. Watkins started to walk away, and when the deputy ordered him to return he yelled profanities at him, Donahue said.

Watkins refused to identify himself and was uncooperative, Donahue said. When other deputies arrived, Watkins told them he had smoked a large quantity of marijuana, Donahue said.

Watkins was booked into the Vista jail. Donahue said deputies did not believe the drug involved was marijuana.

Watkins gained local media attention after he spent more than a week perched in a Tipuana tipu in the park on Orpheus Avenue in a failed effort to save the tree from being cut down.

The city had already removed 10 trees that blocked the views of residents in the Coast Point condominium complex next to the park.

Watkins abandoned his perch after saying that Mayor Maggie Houlihan told him it would not be cut down. Houlihan denied that she ever made such a promise. The tree was cut down Feb. 9, and 22 smaller trees have been planted along the park's perimeter.